Richie performed the song at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
The song lyrics were written primarily in English, but Richie has admitted in at least one press interview that "African" lyrics in the song, such as "Tom bo li de say de moi ya," and "Jambo jumbo," were in fact made-up gibberish of his own invention.
U.S. military personnel told Richie that "All Night Long (All Night)" was playing in the nighttime streets of Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Independent has referred to Richie as "a phenomenon" over the past decade or so in nations such as Iraq, with "Hello" also achieving much success.
The song has achieved massive popularity in the Arab World, in which Richie is well known as much as if not more than in his native U.S.